AMOC and Climate Responses to Dust Reduction and Greening of Sahara during the Mid-Holocene

Abstract

AbstractThe North Africa was green during the mid-Holocene (6 ka) and emitting much less dust to the atmosphere than in present day. Here we use a fully coupled atmosphere-ocean general circulation model, CESM1.2.2, to test the impact of dust reduction and greening of Sahara on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) during this period. Results show that dust removal leads to a decrease of AMOC by 6.2 % while greening of Sahara with 100 % shrub (100 % grass) causes an enhancement of the AMOC by 6.1 % (4.8 %). The AMOC is increased by 5.3 % (2.3 %) when both the dust reduction and green Sahara with 100 % shrub (100 % grass) are considered. The AMOC changes are primarily due to the precipitation change over the west subtropical North Atlantic, from where the salinity anomaly is advected to the deepwater formation region. Global mean surface temperature increases by 0.09 °C and 0.40 °C (0.25 °C) when global dust is removed and when North Africa and Arabian region are covered by shrub (grass), respectively, showing a dominating effect of vegetation over dust. The comparison between modeled and reconstructed sea-surface temperature is improved when the effect of vegetation is considered. The results may have implication for climate impact of future wetting over North Africa, either through global warming or through building of solar farms and wind farms.